


The Flow of Water Across Time

by Heartmony



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Adventure, Drama, F/M, High School, League of Legends - Freeform, Love, Romance, lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-05-04 03:17:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14583768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heartmony/pseuds/Heartmony
Summary: With a new semester come so many new adventures.A young engineer who's trying to redeem himself for all the scholar crimes he has committed during his previous years arrives at the Academy, the number one education center across Valoran which received students from everywhere. Now it is up to him to demonstrate his parents and his teachers what he is capable of and achieve his personal goals.With only a few friends, Ekko, the Boy Who Shattered Time, was ready to take on these challenges, but an unexpected turn in the road would make him change the way he sees life.A beautiful mermaid has arrived at the Academy with little to no knowledge about most of the landwalkers' technology, traditions, or anything at all. All she knows is that she has come to learn about the world of Runeterra as one of the first two of the tribe known as the Marai to do so after several pleas to her mother. Now that she was given this permission, it was time for her stubbornness to give something back to her.This was it, a perfect chance for Ekko to renew himself as someone who cared for someone else, other than himself. Without wasting anymore seconds, he and the mermaid stepped forward into an unknown future.





	1. Back to Square Seven

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TizzyBiz](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=TizzyBiz).



The sun rises on the horizon like it does every single day in Runeterra. Summer was over by the time, but the big star still shone as bright and intensely as it did over the course of the season. The Academy’s front garden was full of life with students socializing with one another: some were discussing various activities they had realized during vacations, others were reading a book under the shade of some trees protected from the intense summer warmth, and others were already picking on some yordles, although nothing too serious to start a fight. The garden had a long trail leading to the main entrance with a large statue of one of the ancient summoners that once helped settle peace among the various Valoran nations in the middle of a circle the same trail formed, right in the center of the garden. The main building stood tall and strong; the red bricks and decorated windows conformed the four-story building, giving it a majestic appearance.

Some time passed by, and classes would soon begin for this new school period. Suddenly, an electric vortex appeared not so far from the Academy’s entrance. The vortex reacted immediately and a boy dressed with a white shirt, a green jacket embroidered with the Academy’s insignia, grey pants with a chain hanging from his belt, a pair of glasses, a backpack that went around his body and laid on his lower back, and a poorly knotted tie came out of it as the energy dispelled from the place. It was Ekko, the Boy Who Shattered Time. The trip he just took left its mark on the young man: his hair was a little messed up, so he immediately tried to comb it with his naked hand, since the other one was covered with a cricket glove. Just as he was in the middle of his hair work, his phone inside his pocket rang, meaning someone was calling him. He got it out and saw a picture of Inna, his mother. He immediately took the call.

“Hey, mom,” he said. A voice from the other side of the line answered back. The conversation mother and son had was the typical before-classes-start call. All Ekko could answer were affirmative reassurances and several humming noises. Ekko always thought his parents were sometimes a little bit more worried than they should be about him, especially regarding the fact that he had built a time machine of his own during the early phase of his science engineering experience as a teenager, but to him, this was more of an accomplishment rather than a threat to his safety.

“Please remember to attend all your classes, son,” his mother said. She sounded serious. “I don’t want any incident like last year happening again. We’ve been through this, dear. Make us proud!”

Ekko was defenseless against his mother’s conditions. He knew she was right. Ekko would sometimes use his time-traveling ability to skip class. This got him into trouble with the headmistress and a couple of professors, especially professor Ryze. Luckily, the lack of evidence supporting the fact that Ekko would go around causing trouble at parallel timelines to cheat on exams and steal other people’s homework to present as his own was the fact that allowed him to keep his Zero Drive. If it wasn’t for those details, and of course, hadn’t Ekko cleaned up all of his mess aligning the timelines back to their original state, he would have probably been banned from performing any research for his own technology, or even worse, from the Academy. He could hear the reality in his mother’s voice; nothing could tell him otherwise: he needs to stop behaving like a delinquent and become a real student. Out of words, he just listened to his mother on the other side of the line and said goodbye.

The Academy has dormitories installed within another section of the surrounding area. Just not so far from there stood another building, next to a park for students to spend some time to relax. This one was made out of the same materials as the Academy’s main organ. It served the purpose of allowing students to settle in their new room. Ekko had arranged every single item he brought with him from Zaun the day before. He set up his workbench next to a medium-sized desk he would use to do his homework and research. His father had recently gifted him a new set of tools shall he ever need some; those were already scattered across the workbench. Some posters hanged from the wall, which were all projects he has been working on, like a time bomb to freeze time in a specific area, some additions to his Z-Drive for it to be a little bit more effective on marking the spot on which Ekko will rewind, augmentations for his Flashbinder and personalized cricket bat, and others that were scrapped. Anyone could tell which ones were those since wrinkles and violent lines on the sheets were present on every single one of them. However, for today, Ekko only took with him some notebooks, pencils, pens, a calculator, his phone, alongside some wireless headphones to listen to his tunes; and, of course, his Zero Drive, tucked perfectly inside his bag, leaving enough space for everything else. After carefully placing his phone back in his pocket, he bolted up, readying himself to enter the Academy.

He began to walk towards the entrance. His eyesight travelled across the entire garden, watching the whole atmosphere where all of the students were having a good time. He hesitated a little bit, but gladly waved at other people. He could see Zyra planting some flowers at a corner of the building while placing a sign with the drawing of a rose next to them; Twisted Fate was performing some magic tricks he could pull off with his cards to some girls to impress them; and Pantheon, who brought some bread to school and was giving Kennen some to try, but the small yordle could barely reach the tray. Ekko didn’t really have a lot of friends. To some, he was merely an acquaintance. He could try to meet some of them a little bit more, but the events he has caused on different pasts really set him back and made it difficult to deal with the memories of him wreaking havoc. Perhaps he could just give it some time and let it all pass until he feels ready to take them on. Maybe some collaborative assignments can help? For now, all he had was his main group. Although it had recently during the summer caused a little bit of monotony for him, he still sort of liked his place there.

His group was only conformed by three other people aside of him: they were Darius, Ahri, and Vladimir. Darius was the student who excelled on most sport teams the Academy had, including basketball, baseball and weightlifting, but also the student with the worst reputation among most of the others, especially the yordles and the study-hard kind. There was no doubt on why he was dubbed the Hand of Noxus, not only because he was a great example of Noxian youth, but because he was considered one of the strongest and best team members back at Noxus. He was sent to the Academy with the aid of a scholarship due to his ability at sports. Ahri was a completely different story. Not most of her grades were great. She was the kind of girl who would spend as much time as possible on her phone texting with her friends and gossiping around with them instead of paying attention to class. Due to this, she would mostly use her charming magic to trick other people into doing her bidding, especially homework. These acts sometimes got her into detention for obviously going against Academy ethics and politics. Finally, Vladimir was a little bit more calm. He was the one Ekko could rely on the most thanks to his personality, although he could sometimes be a little edgy and selfish. Chemistry class was his strongest area as he was fascinated with science, pretty much like Ekko, but with more emphasis on biochemistry rather than engineering.

Speaking of all of them, where were they? Ekko couldn’t see them anywhere on the garden, so perhaps they could already be inside. He reached the front door and opened it to reveal a large entrance hall that split into three: two corridors extended themselves to his left and right while the stairs were erected in the front. The stairway led up to the other three upper levels and down to the basement where multiple storages and a boiler room could be found. More students could be seen walking through the hallways, taking the stairs or accessing their personal lockers. After he entered, Ekko took a look at his wristwatch; 8:18 A.M., meaning he still had twelve minutes to find his classroom. He was indeed excited for his first day; he felt quite a big of energy inside him that inspired his brain into working in new projects, especially for professor Heimerdinger’s Hextech Engineering class. Luckily, being that one his first stop for today at the Academy, he would actually enjoy the first few hours in school before lunch.

He took a right turn towards the hallway. Lockers dressed the walls as well as posters and announcements on the boards that hung on them. Multiple activities could be found on these, and most of the time, inscriptions were available for those interested. He thought he’d stop by after lunch in between the free time he had before entering the next class. However, it was no surprise that when passing by one of the enrolling lists for a beauty club and a cheerleader team, Ahri had already written her name in big, bold letters with a pink marker, probably because of her nature of wanting to be the center of attention. He just sighed and nodded without stopping his movement. A bunch of other students walked on the opposite direction from him and others on the same way, but either at faster or slower pace. However, only a pair did not, and they were standing next to the door Ekko was assigned to enter for Hextech Engineering.

Darius.

Out of all the places Darius could be during the early hours of the day, aside from his bed or the gym, he thought, why did it have to be that specific classroom door? As soon as he saw that tiger embroidered on the back of his jacket, he knew it was him. He stopped his walking for a minute so he could double check his schedule to see if, by chance, he didn’t commit a mistake and professor Heimerdinger’s class was actually supposed to be given in another classroom. He had a small chance of remaining unnoticed, since Darius was busy talking to his younger brother Draven, who was wearing almost the same outfit as his older sibling, except for his ripped-off sleeves to transform his uniform into a second-hand tank. He reached out for his bag that hung from his right shoulder, twisting his body a little bit to the left to open it. His schedule was inside one of his notebooks, but remembering which one was hard for him at the moment because of the Hand of Noxus’s presence, so he took them all out. This action marked his mistake, for as he was handling the notebooks with only one hand, they fell to the floor. The noise was enough for the Noxian brothers to be alerted of Ekko’s presence. He flinched to the heavy sound of the stitched paper hitting the floor but was immediately forced to kneel down to pick his mess up.

“Ekko!”

The voice resonated across the hallway and froze the young boy dead in his agitated motion. It was too late.

“My dear little friend, how are ya today?” Darius asked.

All Ekko could do was raise his head to clearly see his partner, who was completely focused on him. His pose reflected calmness and serenity. Ekko knew that, even from the beginning, Darius would show little to no stress over the start of the semester and taking new classes all the way up to the finals because he would always find a way to get around responsibilities and still pass his exams. Aside from his embroidered jacket, Darius had his hair dyed to a deep-blue color with a white-striped forelock. He used to carry his baseball bat with him most of the time to demonstrate superiority and induce fear to whoever might cross his path. Luckily, he didn’t have it with him at the moment. It was probably confiscated by coach Trundle or he plainly forgot it at his dorm. Moreover, the Academy has strictly prohibited the use of those kinds of weapons inside and around the main building for uses other than class purposes. Due to this fact, Ekko could relax and respond firmly according to his mood.

“Darius… what’s popping?” Ekko answered. He did not seem as excited as his friend was. He still tried to simulate a certain amount of euphoria. Before he could even say a word to complement his question, Ekko was abruptly lifted from the ground and up to his feet by Darius.

“Seems like you’ve been workin’ on your flex,” Ekko said. He was now more awake than he was before. The rapid motion shook his head a little bit, enough to start a slight headache but not to make his glasses join the school material already on the ground. Darius laughed sarcastically. Draven kept calm and let his older brother handle the young engineer while he instead picked up Ekko’s notebooks and bag.

“I’m guessing you and I are taking Heimy’s class, ain’t that right?” Darius asked.

“Well, if you were standing in front of the door just to show off or something, I guess not,” Ekko replied, sarcasm present in his tone and the athlete out of focus of his vision. Darius laughed again, replying to Ekko’s attitude towards him.

Suddenly, Darius grabbed Ekko’s tie and pulled him closer to him so he could have his full attention. Darius was dramatically stronger than Ekko, too much for a young adult, let alone his overall appearance; a couple more years could pass and Darius would already be mistaken by a middle-aged man.

“Listen here, skunkhead, I ain’t losing my sports scholarship because of a nerdy topic like this one. I’d rather put my brains in the court than wasting my precious thinking on building little toys that I could easily break just by crushing them with my bare hands.”

Ekko grew nervous on the inside. His eyes widened and his mouth remained completely closed and shut. Darius tightened his grip on the tie, pulled it closer to him and put his other hand on Ekko’s chest, applying pressure on his body and causing the time traveler to feel considerable amount of pain on both his nape and upper thorax. The aggressor continued his speech.

“So, here’s the deal: you’ll help me get over the assignments and anything that I may require in the future and we’re good.” His words grew even more menacing than before both on context and tone.

“Yeah? Well, what if I don’t?” Ekko argued. Something Ekko always thought about himself, and even others as well, was that he was remarkably brave. It really takes guts to travel through time without being afraid of causing a complete paradox. However, he was still reckless and a little stubborn on the inside.

“Then your toys won’t be the only things that’ll turn out broken. And I’m sure both outcomes will not please you at all.”

Ekko returned to his previous agitated and nervous state, putting his lips back together to avoid more trouble. He turned his sight to his side to see Draven, who had already finished picking up Ekko’s materials and taken his Z-Drive out from his bag, juggling it on one hand while the other sustained his backpack, almost touching the ground, presumably now filled with his notebooks.

At this point, Ekko didn’t know what to say or what to do. He thought he would be forced to reply, but luckily, the loud chime of the bell rang just in time to save him. Darius pushed him back after the sound was heard across the entire school.

“You better think about it, skunk. And it better be the answer I’m looking for,” He said. “That way, we can all be happy.”

He didn’t need to say anything else. Darius turned around, opened the door to the classroom and went in. Draven followed. Before the younger sibling entered the room, he threw the Zero Drive to Ekko, as well his backpack. He was able to catch the cylindrical object, but since it occupied both of his hands, the bag landed on the floor after hitting Ekko on the left arm, which covered his entire body from the impact. There was no sign of professor Heimerdinger, so he quickly stuffed his Z-Drive back in its place and successfully raised his bag on his shoulder as he entered the classroom.

It was the first time in a while since Ekko saw a chalkboard that was completely clean and empty of information. It filled him with joy to know that it would be soon covered entirely of all sorts of math, physics and engineering calculations. The gaze he gave the green-colored canvas made him forget his previous encounter with the bullies. Yeah, that’s right. Ekko could now officially refer to Darius as a bully. He thought he was his friend, or at least someone to sit with at lunch time, but apparently, some people would sacrifice those who supposedly hold a special value to them in order to achieve their own needs.

There was no sign of either Vladimir or Ahri at the classroom. The place was quite big enough to hold thirty students, each sitting on their respective bench, which were organized in six rows of five columns each, although this didn’t imply that the class would hold that much students. It all depended on how many of them enrolled on professor Heimerdinger’s class. And now that Ekko was part of those people, he had to pick a seat. Most of the front seats were already occupied by other kids, so he had to go to the back. The wooden floor was already flooded with each student’s belongings and artifacts, so maneuvering had to be done with caution. On one side of the rows of seats were Darius and Draven, talking to each other about Urf knows what. Now that he had decided to stay away from trouble, he sat on one of the desks near the back wall, just in front of the last row, right in the middle of his own. From there, he had an excellent view of the entire classroom. The panorama was decorated with wall posters about scientific topics and several billboards. The light entering illuminated the place perfectly thanks to the windows on Ekko’s left-hand side. He thought he couldn’t pick a better place to sit. The bullies were one row of seats in front of him and next to the windows and nothing to obstruct his view to the front too much.

While everyone started taking their respective places, Ekko felt a strange breeze coming from somewhere. His arm that had his sleeve rolled up, as well as his face, perceived a change in the environment. It was minor, but his senses were quite awake after the violent encounter with the Noxian duo. He didn’t give it much importance, although it was indeed weird that something like that could be felt mid-summer. Nobody seemed to pay attention to the phenomenon, so he decided to let it pass. He took his cricket glove from his left hand and put it inside his bag just as Professor Heimerdinger opened the door. The teacher started talking immediately afterwards.

“Alright, class,” he said. “I hope everyone had a great time during summer vacations and we’re all ready to take on this new class period.” The professor skipped through the front of the classroom to reach the desk, and since he was a yordle, he climbed on the chair to finally stand on top of it so he could have everyone’s attention. By now, the whole class looked up to the professor.

“The start of a new semester means many things, children,” He stated. “New notebooks, new classes, new professors, and even new classmates and students. Before commencing with the class, I would like you all to meet the Academy’s newest member, who happens to be joining us during the course of this semester in our room.”

Suddenly, Ekko just realized the door was left open. The professor turned his head towards it.

“Come in, my dear. You can now present yourself to the rest of your new classmates.”

Everyone stared in the direction professor Heimerdinger was facing, including the boy who shattered time, as the new student entered the classroom.

Ekko couldn’t believe what he was seeing. A mermaid.

He didn’t care about what other classmates thought at the moment. He was too shocked. His eyes widened once again as he glanced at the girl with awe. She was wearing a black and white school jacket which seemed clean and new with the Academy’s insignia on the left side of her chest. A necklace with a clam shell hung from her neck and she wore a crown on her head. The crown was amazingly detailed with a large blue gem in the center, just on top of her forehead. Behind this accessory, a long, greenish-yellow-colored extension fell down from her head to just a couple inches under her elbow. Perhaps that was her hair. And, of course, what amazed Ekko the most: her tail. It was long and green with scales decorating the entire extremity until her horizontal fins. Now that Ekko was observing it, he realized she wasn’t indeed walking, but rather floating on top of a small water current that followed her every movement.

Captivating and beautiful, just as the tales described mermaids.

He now noticed seconds before she stopped that she was avoiding visual contact with anyone in the classroom up until this point. She looked down the entire time it took her to reach professor Heimerdinger.

Ekko didn’t know if his classmates were murmuring to themselves or not, since everything seemed to have gone quiet. All he could hear was a void inside his ears accompanied with the sound of flowing water through a river.

As the girl reached the professor, she turned her head towards him before turning her whole body to the front of the class. Her tail motioned immediately and now rested behind her. This is when Ekko saw her eyes. A pair of crimson irises with black pupils, each one on top of a dark sclera that contrasted with her porcelain white skin. She did not show a smile, she was clearly nervous and thoughtful.

When she said her first words, Ekko did nothing but to show a smile of his own. He didn’t know it, but it seemed like something from the inside commanded him to do so, like it was the right thing to do. After all, he didn’t want her to receive a bad first impression of the Academy. And just as he smiled, the breeze he felt earlier engulfed his entire body; a refreshing feeling of a calm and peaceful day at the sea.


	2. Swimming against the Current

Nami opened her eyes to see her bathystaff against the coral wall lighting the place. Everything on her surroundings was pitch black, drowned by the illumination her only light source provided. She made the effort of sitting up on her bed while brushing her eyes to draw away the remaining drowsiness. This was it, the day had arrived.

Weeks ago, her Marai friend Rasho was given the privilege of attending the most prestigious institution across Valoran. Being almost the same age, Nami questioned the elders and her mother on their decision. What she got in response did not help in calming her down and she still demanded the same right. Her mother told her not to worry, for that decision was made by Rasho himself as he volunteered to be the pioneer of such a tremendous task. That task consisted of exploring the world outside the seas in which the Marai tribe lived in and making contact with the outside while learning to communicate and live like the rest of the population of Runeterra. The elders hesitated on Rasho’s request at first, but his personality was something that made him stand out from most of the young amongst the tribe. Perhaps, Nami thought, everyone was as curious as she was about the outside world on the surface of the sea, so they thought sending someone as young as Rasho would make a great advantage on their quest. Stubbornly, Nami pleaded to her mother for a chance to demonstrate she had the same capabilities as Rasho and that she was sure to share the same amount of determination her friend seemed to show.

They argued for some time until her mother finally let go from her resistance against her daughter’s petition. Nami would be allowed to attend the Academy with Rasho under the condition of staying close to each other as much as possible. While her mother spoke with the elders on the matter, Nami excitedly went to Rasho and told him about how both would now be attending the Academy. Rasho seemed completely arrogant to Nami and quickly asked her why would she be interested in travelling to the surface. She remembers those words, and since then, Nami grew doubtful on whether it was the best decision she could make or not. Her friend sort of let her down a little bit, however, he agreed, but was not willing to take complete care of her as it wasn’t in his original plans.

For some reason, Nami felt like this was not her home anymore. The lack of friendship would really stab her in her heart sometimes, but luckily, her mother was always there to make her company. He expected something good could come up between she and Rasho now that both would be the very first Marai to be taken in by a school that was different from the education they received from what all the Marai knew at the time from their own home. She learned where to swim and where not to, what kind of diet would benefit her organism in the best way possible, and even how the Marai originally fought for survival on the early days of their civilization, but Nami wanted more. The life she was being part of didn’t really seem to fill her desire, she wanted to feel and know everything the world could offer, but now that Rasho, and most of the elders, doubted on her capabilities, she, for the first time, felt alone.

Now that she was fully awake, she swam to meet her mother on another small coral cave with the bathystaff on her hand. Being quite early in the morning, the moon still dimly illuminated her home. She found the place empty and thought she could have been summoned by the elders as they used to most of the time to arrange the daily routines in scavenging for resources and hunting for food. As she swam across the underwater reef that was her home, she felt a slight pain on her stomach. Nausea overwhelmed her as she travelled waving her tail in perfect harmonic motion to swim, so she slowed her pace down. She imagined how would it be like when she first travels out to the surface. When was she coming back? Would it be difficult for her to breathe out of the water? As her thoughts filled her mind, she was greeted by a few light sources still quite far from her location.

Trying to stay focused on her trail, Nami pushed on towards the lights on the distance. They all formed a perfect circle on the top of a gigantic rock which had pillars erected, and upon getting closer, she could distinguish numerous Marai arranged to form a circular perimeter around a certain area. She recognized her mother, who was amongst the elders of the village, and Rasho, right in the center of the formation. As she approached, she decided to swim around this perimeter and reach her mother to ask her about the nature of the meeting.

“Mother?” Nami said. “I looked for you right after I woke up but didn’t find you. What’s going on?”

Her mother turned around to face her.

“Oh, darling,” she answered. “I thought you would still be asleep. It’s quite early right now.”

“I know, but, is there something important I should be aware of?”

Her mother chuckled a little and swam towards Nami who was still holding her bathystaff to guide her way.

“We wanted to make sure Rasho was up to the task,” she said. “The elders are giving him strict orders to watch over you and himself as soon as you depart to the drylands.”

Nami glanced towards Rasho, who was idle in the water with a determined posture on his body, seemingly listening to the elders.

“I can take care of myself,” Nami said. “I’m pretty sure everything will be alright.” The anxiousness of travelling to a new world was rushing through her blood.

Her mother could do nothing but to glance at her only daughter and embrace her in a tight hug.

“I’m really going to miss you,” she said.

Nami suddenly couldn’t move a single muscle of her body. Her mother’s warmth comforted her entire soul.

“I’ll miss you too, mother.”

For the eyes of her mother, Nami was an adventurous girl. She would always want to wander around outside the perimeters of their small underwater village looking for adventure, just the same way she was doing right now. That closeness they both had at the same moment made her remember something wonderful. She remembered that day when she was young, while she and her mother were swimming between a large amount of pillars of a temple they attended to once. The pillars were decorated with paintings depicting the ancient times of the Marai and a special ritual they underwent every time danger seemed to overpower their homeland. That was the first time when Nami heard about the legend of the Tidecaller; a brave and young warrior who was sent to the depths of the abyss to retrieve a shinny pearl which’s brightness could not even equal the entire amount of natural light known to them combined. The Tidecaller was then to take the orb to the surface, where he or she would meet with the Aspect of the Moon from Mount Targon and trade it for a moonstone. Such precious mineral was then to be taken back to the tribe and be placed on a special pedestal, where it would shine as bright as the moon. This was necessary; shall they run out of the light the moonstone provided, darkness would invade their land and allow the horrid abominations of the abyss take over their home.

As they continued with their embrace, Nami was able to squeeze her own hands on themselves and feel her bracelet. The same one her mother made for her that very day when she grabbed some shells from an altar, right underneath an important painting depicting the legend. Following this act, they separated to meet each other’s eyes.

“I’ve got a gift for you,” her mother said. Nami saw as she left her alone for a little bit and came back with a pouch. As Nami took it in her hands, she could feel a moderate weight and wondered what could be inside. With careful eyes, concentrated on the object, she opened it up and took out a dark blue crown with a clearer, yet still dark in coloration, and shiny gem in the middle, just above where the forehead should go. Another item was found inside, which was a small clam shell attached to a long string.

“They’re beautiful. More than anything I’ve seen before,” she said. She gave the pouch back to her mother and immediately wore the clam as a necklace before carefully placing the crown on top of her head, perfectly fitting in. “I’ll wear them everywhere I go so that I can remember where I come from.”

Being a young lady, Nami wasn’t completely ready to spend quite a lot of time away from home, so being able to remind herself about it would encourage her to feel joy instead of nostalgia. Before her mother could even say anything, someone interrupted the moment.

“Alright then. Are you ready? We shouldn’t lose anymore time,” a voice called. The tone wasn’t that friendly or patient either.

Nami turned to see Rasho static in the water with his arms crossed and a raised eyebrow on his face.

“Yes. I was born ready,” Nami answered, stuttering. Determination mixed a little with nervousness at this point. “But, wouldn’t the elders like to say anything to me?”

“Don’t worry, fish tail,” he replied. “I got it all covered. They won’t say anything to you that they didn’t say to me.” His reply sounded equally uninterested as his first words. “Come on, let’s go.”

With this said, Rasho swam upwards. Looking at him, it seemed he wasn’t carrying anything with him, so Nami thought nothing could be needed for the Academy. At least for today. Even so, she thought of taking her bathystaff with her, just in case.

“So, I guess this is it, then,” she said to her mother.

After one final embrace, Nami started swimming upwards excitedly at a fast pace. Her face drew a smile wider for every meter she travelled through the water. She could see Rasho just in front of her. However, he swam calmly. She got passed him, caring little about what he could think about it. She could feel the water quickly brushing her face and body as her tail flipped up and down to gain speed until she finally surfaced.

By now, Nami felt a true sensation of joy. One she could describe as excitement over achieving a great goal in her life. She didn’t just peek out from underwater, she made a full spin after she jumped out the liquid, spiraling over her own axis before diving back into the ocean. During the whole stunt, her laugh echoed across all her surroundings. She swam back up to the surface, now calmer and serene as she looked around the entire panorama. Rasho soon followed after; his expression hasn’t changed ever since Nami saw him deep below.

“Let’s go, then,” He said. “Let’s not waste too much time. We still need to meet whoever is in charge of the school.”

Nami suddenly felt a nervous current of blood flowing all the way through her stomach. Rasho’s attitude was somewhat rude to her. It seemed as he didn’t really enjoy either having to have woken up too soon in the morning or travelling alongside her. Either way, Nami did as best as she could to withdraw from her negative feelings and push on.

The night was still present. The enormous moon that could be seen almost near the horizon caught Nami’s attention while she was swimming to shore. She remembered once again the legend of the Tidecaller and the Aspect of the Moon. The entire story did cause her a lot of nostalgia, since her mother was the one who told the tale. The stars were also something that really amazed Nami. Little did she know about them; to her, they were only little dots of white light far away from the ocean or the land, and tonight, they shone as bright as her eyes did over the glance of the celestial masses.

By the time they arrived to shore, the sun’s first rays of light were already beginning to breach the horizon from the direction they were heading. Nami captured this image in his mind and was sure to remember it for the rest of their trip to maintain her sane and determined. Such beautiful colors were rarely seen by her or her people, so this was a moment to treasure for a very long time. As they stepped out of the water, both Rasho’s and Nami’s tails where engulfed with water and were soon levitated off the ground by a magical current. She thought of using her bathystaff to help her guide her way through the land, but seeing the magic that was suddenly performed by Rasho proved it useless. However, Nami would still be carrying this artifact to light her way through the drylands. It made her feel complete and safe.

“Be sure not to lose focus on the spell, Nami,” Rasho said. “We’ll be like this for a long time, so be prepared.”

Nami didn’t express her acknowledgement with words but with humming. Rasho had something that Nami found… unpleasant, in a way that made her feel like travelling to the drylands was a bad idea and that she’d rather stay home. On the other hand, her inside stubbornness kept her pushing forward to the unknown. She really wanted to know what was waiting for her on the Academy. Would she meet new people? Would she be the only one other than Rasho to share her physical appearance? These questions built up on her mind as they both continued their trip.

They crossed rocky terrain as well as a beautiful grassland. This last one was Nami’s favorite. In fact, everything that she saw suddenly became her new favorite thing in the world. Such amazing environments caused her incredible awe. The new things she discovered by just seeing them at a distance inspired her to keep walking on to their goal. Rasho seemed ignorant, though. Nami occasionally turned to see her partner who was just facing in one direction and swimming across every wonder that they were visiting, not paying any kind of attention to their surroundings.

Nami didn’t stop behaving like a curious child. Her smile amplified with every meter she advanced, enjoying all of the marvelous things she could encounter. The grass tickled her tail from below, causing her to laugh and improve her enjoyment. The rocks she encountered were almost like work of art to her; the trees were immaculate structures to see for the first time and the wind brushing her face and body from all directions felt almost like water, yet drier.

Gazing at the sunrise made everything even better as time went on. Walking towards the big, shinny light way afar from her current position made her think why would it be getting harder to reach as she was seemingly getting closer to it. It seemed like not only she could move towards that direction, but it would rather look like everything is in constant movement around her. What else could be moving other than the environment or herself? She still had so much to learn about this new world.

Some time passed until the sun finally peeked out of the mountains. By then, Nami had reached along with Rasho Academy grounds. She stood in shock watching everything the building itself could offer. The giant statue of the ancient summoner made of stone gave the perfect welcoming to the pair of Marai. Comparing the statue with the rocks she found earlier, she wondered how could something as hard as rock could be modified in shape to give it a different look. Such wonders filled this new world.

Nami couldn’t believe what was standing in front of her. The whole structure was purely and carefully crafted to dispose refined and excellent craftsmanship. If it wasn’t for Rasho, Nami would probably had stayed there deliriously navigating through her thoughts. Once again, her stomach felt those punching bursts of nervousness.

“That’s the front entrance, I guess,” he said.

“What should we do?” she answered. Her bathystaff was still in her hand and shinning a little bit less bright due to the now present natural sunshine, however slightly.

“We should get going. I need to know how things work over here.”

Rasho swam forward to the main entrance. The oak doors were perfectly decorated with small details of precious, shinning stones and supported with a silver doorframe. Nami wondered straight on ahead following him, but stopped to the sudden noise of the door opening. A woman with a black dress and a red-dyed forelock appeared on the doorway, startling both Rasho and Nami. Her face decorated with a pair of glasses along with her personal look on her face caused an intimidating glare. Nami felt as her stomach shrank on itself.

“Students, please come in,” the woman said drawing a smile on her face. “I’ve got to talk to you.”

The tone confused Nami a little bit. Regardless of the greetings she just received from the woman, she immediately thought that that landwalker held a special role in the Academy’s inner functional structure. When the woman turned around leaving the door open for both to enter the building, Rasho entered immediately. Nami hesitated a bit before actually climbing the steps that led to the door and into the main hall, where the woman introduced herself to them.

“I’m the headmistress, Fiora,” she said. “I am most proud of welcoming you both to the Academy of Valoran.”

The introduction went for about two more minutes with the headmistress explaining everything superficial that had to do with the Academy and how the Marai and the headmistress arranged and prepared for their arrival. Nami listened carefully, grasping the beam of light her bathystaff emanated. Soon, she was asked to follow Fiora alongside Rasho across the left hallway and into another door that was the headmistress’s office. The place had a big desk standing in the middle of the room with all sorts of decorations and picture frames next to a big, squared, light-emanating device. The device showed pictures of the headmistress and was connected from the back to a long set of small symbols scattered over a piece of metal, accompanied with a small yet bulky thing over a soft pad. The landwalkers had quite a strange way of getting things done with technology.

Nami’s stomach was still all curled up. Seeing the empty hallways filled her with terror, not knowing how many students might be flooding the place soon. Questions started filling her mind by seeing all of the blank billboards and lockers. What was the nature of everything they used in this place? How do most of the things work? The lack of answers built up on her inside until she couldn’t feel her insides anymore. She felt empty of information, and this was something that started worrying her too much.

Inside the office, both Nami and Rasho were given a set of Academy uniforms by the headmistress before she sat down on her desk. Rasho was given a shirt and a bowtie, perfectly matching his skin color. On the other hand, Nami received a black and white Academy jacket alongside a red blouse. The jacket was embroidered with the Academy’s insignia. Soon, they were instructed about how the Academy worked and were given a personal and prearranged schedule for them to attend class. Nami looked at hers and folded it to store it inside her jacket’s right pocket after analyzing the clothing for a bit. It seemed like the Academy was always ready to receive new students since the back room of the office was actually a storage where multiple set of uniforms where stored. When the headmistress finished instructing them, she pulled from her pocket yet another device. Nami took a quick glance at it, now donning the jacket she received over the blouse, and analyzed Fiora’s movements. She pressed something on the device and saw how her eyes were completely focused on the light coming from it. Her forehead and glasses both reflected what she was seeing on the device. She seemed to be pressing something on it with her fingers, and right after, she pulled it over her head and onto her right ear. Everything was silent for a bit until she started talking again.

“Hello?” she said. By now, Nami assumed she was communicating with another landwalker. “Yes? Professor Heimerdinger? Would you mind coming over to the office? I’ve got a special task for you and Doctor Singed.”

Nami once again felt that awful pain on her stomach. It just couldn’t stop bothering her every time something new happened. Some would say it would be normal for a new student to feel nervous on his or her first day at school, and regarding Nami’s nature and ethnicity, it would come as no surprise. She glanced at Rasho and could not feel any kind of security anymore. His attitude seemed off that day; it would seem like he only cared for himself, since not even then was he checking on her. At the time, his primary focus was on getting his bowtie straight. Now Nami was beginning to feel kind of sad. She didn’t want to be left alone.

“Alright, thank very much, gentleman.” Fiora said, tapping once again on the strange device and putting it on her desk. “Students, with all of this said, I hope your stay at the Academy suffices your needs. One last thing before we go.”

Fiora stopped her words as she pulled out from a drawer a pair of small keys. She explained how these would serve as their personal locker keys and that they must take care of them as they were their lives. Rasho thanked the woman and immediately took his. Nami, on the other hand, thanked her as well, but her movement was dull and slow. Fiora did nothing but to smile and be patient with her. After all, respect was something the Academy excelled at, and headmistress Fiora was a primary example. As Nami took the key, she quickly thought of a place to put it, somewhere were it could be safe. Seeing now that her necklace was out in the open, she took the key and placed it inside the shell, closing it tightly and grasping it with one hand. She glanced to her bracelet with nostalgia.

A knock was heard on the office door. Fiora stood up and walked towards it with a firm strut. Opening it revealed two more landwalkers. One was a small man with a crazy-looking hair, all curled up and wearing some kind of goggles covering his eyes. Elegance was portrayed by his outfit. The other one was a taller, yet bald man. He was wearing a white coat covering a blue shirt and a red tie. What seemed the oddest to Nami was a giant flask with green liquid strapped to his back. It probably was dangerous, so she stepped away.

Fiora greeted both men and introduced them to Nami and Rasho. She explained how these two would be their teachers for their first class scheduled for that day. Remembering the piece of paper Nami was given earlier, she took it out from the pocket on her jacket and analyzed it. She didn’t understand much of what was written on the paper, so she immediately assumed that the first class she would be attending to was Hextech Engineering. Her mother once taught her how to read, but she never had the chance to write, and having a lack of time measurements back on her village really confused her. It would seem like these landwalkers were actually more prepared than she expected, already organizing everything for the students to know when and where they were supposed to go.

Professor Heimerdinger approached her.

“Hello, darling,” he said. His voice sounded quite funny and trustworthy. “Are you ready to commence your adventure?”

Nami couldn’t do anything but to smile and nod. She almost flinched. She took another look at Rasho. He was talking with the other professor and saw them leave the office. Perhaps they could both share a class sometime. It would make Nami feel comfortable, for a bit, at least.

“Don’t worry about your friend, he’ll be quite alright and you can both meet at lunchtime if you please.”

“Alright, professor,” she said. “Thank you.”

Professor Heimerdinger quickly pulled up his left sleeve to reveal his hand watch.

“Oh, sweet engines!” Heimerdinger exclaimed. “We’ll be late for class. Please follow me, we’ll be heading to the room right away.”

Nami quickly looked at her bathystaff and felt another shot of nervousness impale her from the inside out. She wanted to ask about her article but she could not just build the sentences on her mouth.

“Allow me,” Fiora said. She caught Nami’s attention and asked her to led her the staff. “I’ll take care of your belonging for today. At the end of the period you can come and pick it up. We still have some things we need to take care of so you can feel completely welcome in the Academy.”

Hesitating, yet with a smile of relief, Nami handed over the staff.

“I’ll take good care of it. Please enjoy your first day of classes.”

Nami thanked the headmistress and left the office with professor Heimerdinger. However, by some kind of magic, the hallways were filled with students walking all over. As Nami was following her teacher, she could see and feel gazes coming to her from multiple people. This was it. Nami was completely defenseless and nervous. All she could do was stare down at the floor near where her professor was walking to feel safe. They both crossed the main hall and walked straight into the right hallway, heading towards the door labeled “108”.

Nami did not want to take her eyes away from her professor. She felt like everybody was watching her and her cheeks were turning red. Doing so would cause her to feel extreme shame.

They both reached the classroom door and professor Heimerdinger instructed her kindly to wait right there. He opened the door and entered the room.

To feel comfortable with herself, she took her right hand and fidgeted a bit with her bracelet, feeling the softness of the small shells that conformed it. She thought about her mother and how would she react by seeing her right there, just inches away from her very first classroom.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the voice of her professor calling, asking her to enter the room. Nami took a deep breath and pushed on. The nervousness was eating her stomach and her bowels, like a small fish chewing on small crumbs of algae.

She swam into the classroom.

Suddenly, the noise she was hearing from the inside stopped as soon as she entered. She did not want to even peek with her peripheral vision towards the class, as she feared she would be noticed. When she reached professor Heimerdinger, she was surprised to see him standing on top of his desk. The teacher nodded at her and under his big mustache a smile was formed, giving Nami the confidence she needed. At least somebody was being nice to her. For the first time, she had enough courage to look directly to the group of people. However, doing so would cause her stomach to shrink even more.

“Hello,” she said. Her voice immediately jumped to a cut in between words. “My name is Nami. I come from the sea, I belong to the tribe known as the Marai. I’m pleased to meet you all.”

She stuttered quite a lot.

Professor Heimerdinger now began to talk introducing Nami to the class. Although everything seemed to go quieter for a bit. His voice seemed almost like a whisper. She glanced to the classroom, scanning her eyes to see her new classmates. Out all of them, she briefly noticed someone who had a different expression on his face. This person’s gaze felt different from the others and it was easily discovered by Nami. A boy wearing a green jacket and with peculiar white hair was looking at her differently. She only caught a glimpse of him smiling to her, which caused her to smile a little bit back but to quickly face in another direction. This mysteriousness filled her mind as she commenced listening the sound of a ticking noise on her head. The sound was steady and on beat, almost like if a small stick was hitting on another one. Suddenly, she felt as if everything was flowing smoother. She slowly was relieved of the pain in her stomach and actually felt comfort for the first time in the day. On the side of her point of view, she looked at that boy who was still smiling back at her. There was something strange growing up inside of her as the ticking noise suddenly became louder, almost going on rhythm with her heartbeat.


	3. Talk

Ekko snapped out his thoughts as soon as Professor Heimerdinger began talking again. Some other introductory sentences to the entire class were given, while the mermaid, who’s name was Nami, swam towards her own seat. By then, the breeze he had felt before was gone for a reason Ekko couldn’t comprehend and the water current’s sound he heard disappeared.

Time went by and, when his wristwatch read 10:00 A.M., the bell rang once more. Overall, the class was not entirely of his amusement, since the professor opted only to talk about engineering as a topic. Having taken class with Heimerdinger before, Ekko knew exactly when to pay strict attention, since, like that day, the teacher would often derail himself from the actual class subjects.

Nothing was needed to write with or to write on, so Ekko just grabbed his bag, stood up from his seat and walked towards the exit after putting his cricket glove back on his left hand. Everyone did the same thing and left the place. However, right before he stepped out of the classroom, following his other classmates, he was called out.

“Ekko,” he heard. “Could you please come here for a second?”

He turned around and saw the teacher standing on his own desk, and next to him, Nami. She looked as before, although her pose actually resembled relaxation. Perhaps the absence of students in the classroom relieved her.

As asked, Ekko approached the scene. He took the time to observe underneath Nami’s tail. He was amazed by how she was able to levitate. The small water current stayed in one place, and he assumed it was the same volumetric amount that she could maintain following her every move. Magic was obviously involved, but how she could manage to do so was a mystery.

Ekko quickly regained focus on the teacher.

“Yes, professor?” he asked.

“I have to ask a very special favor from you,” he said, both hands on his back and one holding the other, which was forming a fist. “Since you are one of the most, if not, the most, prominent students I know, I believe you’d suit perfectly for this task.”

By then, Ekko assumed some conclusions in his head. Time travel was not needed for him to know.

“Since Nami here is joining us at Hextech Engineering, and since one of our projects will involve a collaborative participation, would you be kind enough to let her team up with you?”

At first, hearing these words did not make an impact on his mind, but soon enough, he remembered what happened before entering the classroom. He immediately reminded himself after a second or two about Darius, and how he was threatened with brute force to work on Darius’s assignments and, most importantly, his projects. Being that already settled like a tick on his skin, Ekko’s eyes widened a little bit, and soon after, he stuttered. Everything seemed to fall hard on his own hands; too heavy for him to carry. He assumed that Nami had little to no knowledge on the subject of Engineering, since, as she mentioned herself earlier, she came from the sea, which meant he’ll probably end up doing everything on his own.

“I…,” Ekko said.

His glance then focused on Nami. She was still quiet. She was clearly embarrassed due to what had to be done. Her cheeks reddened immediately just a small amount and her look was focused downwards.

Another memory suddenly came to him: the phone call he received earlier from his mother Ina.

During summer vacations, his parents had a long and very serious discussion with him. They did not turn aggressive on him, but they were clearly worried. Fresh from the problems he caused with his Z-Drive, combined with all of the dishonest acts on school, it was no surprise that Ekko would soon face the consequences. The three were sitting on the dinner table inside Ekko’s apartment in the lower districts of Zaun. For the fist time in a very long lapse, Ekko felt responsibility and guilt. It was all due to his best friend’s death. Such a grief was hard for a student who was only in the middle of his high school studies. The weight of a loss was impacting hard on his mind and heart, leading to such rebellious attitudes and actions. At least, that was everything that he remembered in that very short moment of thought between his words, but her mother’s acted powerfully over him.

“It is never too late to start anew,” her mother said that day in the dinning room. “And you, out of all the kids here in Zaun, know that the best.”

Somehow, the phone call reminded him of everything, even if it had nothing to do with the family reunion.

“I will,” he finally said to Heimerdinger while returning his attention to the yordle. “I’d be glad to do so.”

The professor immediately laughed joyfully over Ekko’s acceptance while clapping his hands softly.

“Excellent!” he exclaimed.

For some reason, Ekko did not feel another heavyweight on his back as he thought would. Instead, with a deep exhalation, he felt happy with himself. Perhaps, he thought, that was what her mother meant, and the consequences were the professor’s excitement.

“Then it is settled,” Heimerdinger continued. “Sweetheart, I assure you that you’re now in good hands.”

Ekko immediately turned to see Nami, who was unexpectedly looking back at him. During this small encounter, Ekko could appreciate something he didn’t have the chance to when he was sitting at his desk. The crimson irises both contrasted noticeably over the black sclera that engulfed her eyes. They gleamed a little bit, while her lips slowly turned into a shy smile. With this, Ekko was taunted to smile back at her, but before he could even move a muscle, a voice called from behind him.

“Alright,” the voice said. “So who am I leading around today?”

Ekko turned around and saw Xayah, one of the few Vastayan students the Academy welcomed in. She was dressed in a purple skirt and scholar uniform, accompanied with a bowtie of the same color, combined with a red blouse underneath. She was leaning on the doorframe, patiently waiting for an answer.

“Ah, yes, yes,” the professor answered. “Nami, sweetheart, please go with Xayah. She’ll explain some things to you, I believe. I was not entirely notified of this with detail but I’m sure she can explain everything that you need to know for now.

Ekko witnessed the entire event. He saw how Nami quickly gave her attention back to Heimerdinger, nodded and swam towards the door. When she was already outside the classroom, Xayah spoke again.

“Thank you, professor,” she said. “See you later for class.”

That being said, Xayah then closed the classroom door, disappearing into the horde of students walking in the hall. Only Ekko and his Hextech Engineering teacher remained in the room.

“Ekko,” the professor said. “Before you leave, do you have a moment?”

Ekko turned around one final time towards his teacher.

“Uh, sure,” he answered. “What’s up?”

Ekko was standing in the same position ever since he reached the desk, his hand gripping on his bag’s strap, helping him carry the weight of his books and Z-Drive.

“First of all,” the engineer continued. “Thank you for accepting my request. I thought I might have had a lot of trouble with her being all by herself in this class, so I imagined we could all be working on a special project that involves collaboration between two or more students. You know, for everyone to be even.”

“Nothing to thank for, sir,” Ekko replied.

“Originally, when we all received news about two new Vastayan students joining us all during the course of this semester, we thought about opening up two more places in some classes. Basic classes, mind you, such as Algebra and Literature, but a couple of unexpected problems aroused.”

Heimerdinger jumped down to his chair, Ekko followed him with his eyes. The professor then sat down on the edge, sighing slightly afterwards and looking towards the floor, waving his hands as he explained.

“The school demands that all students take part in at least four classes during a single semester, and due to that reason, Nami was forced to be enrolled in Hextech Engineering, as well as Health and Nursing. We immediately discarded the idea of her being in H.E. but the last place in Chemistry was taken by the other Vastayan student, so we had no choice but to enlist her in my class.”

He looked towards Ekko.

“I blame that on Professor Singed,” he joked, then went back to the explanation. “I believe she might not have a lot of trouble with H.N. or with our nurse who will be imparting the class, but as you know, this topic is very difficult, and for a poor girl who got forced into this… Well, you'd already know, I believe.

“Yes, sir,” Ekko replied after sighing. “I understand.”

“I know you do, young one.”

There was a small pause. Ekko took this opportunity to look outside the windows. The sun was completely bathing the room, and now, birds chirped.

“What about the other issue, sir?” he asked, admiring the view.

“It’s her tribe,” the elder replied. “There are no known records, or at least, as far as I know, about the Marai. To be honest, Nami and her companion are the very first of their kind I have met in my entire life. I’m pretty sure most of the students here haven’t done so either, but I know at least the Vastaya might know about them, like Xayah. That’s why she was asked by the headmistress to take care of her during the first few weeks, at least until she feels confident enough to go by on her own at school terrain. Perhaps she can become her very first friend outside of her tribe.”

Ekko was now paying full attention to his teacher. He was now very serious.

“Thus, regarding that it is a Vastayan race that we barely know, we’re not sure how much of the world they might be aware of; how it works, how it moves, so I’m now entrusting you with this important quest.”

Heimerdinger smiled, his mustache mimicking the shape.

“I entrust you with this not only because you’re one of smartest students the Academy has, but because I also believe you are one of the wisest. Regardless of what has happened in the past, I have faith that we can all fix ourselves. And that being said by a scientist is quite a lot.”

Chuckles were given out by the teacher, while he stood up on the chair and jumped back onto the desk.

Ekko knew Professor Heimerdinger was right. He was one of the witnesses who had to deal with Ekko’s rogue period.

Ekko felt a little ashamed, but accepted it with grace.

“Don’t worry, sir,” Ekko replied. “I’ll do my best.”

“That’s the spirit, son,” the teacher said. “Now, I wouldn’t like to take anymore of your time. You’re free to go now, Ekko.”

Ekko briefly laughed, relieved, and immediately turned around and headed towards the exit.

“Oh, Ekko,” Heimerdinger called. “Be friends with her if you can. You’d both work better that way.”

The words made Ekko stop to think.

“Will try,” he finally said.

Ekko opened the door and went through, closing it behind him.

The students were moving around, walking towards both ends of the hall. The chatter quickly took over his ears as he entered the hordes of young boys and girls, and as them, he made his way onward to his next destination: the cafeteria.

Lunch time meant he would get to spend some part of the day with Ahri, Vladimir and Darius, although thinking about this last person almost made him turn around and head to the dorms. Regardless, it would be fun to spend some time with them altogether, since he didn’t have any chance at all to hang out with them during the summer. While walking, he remembered the last words his professor said to him, alongside with the truth about the Marai, and Nami. He believed she was fairly lucky to have been admitted in the Academy, regarding the fact that she might not know a lot about the world, but she surely must have come for a reason. And now that he would be working with her for Heimerdinger’s class, perhaps, he thought, he can get to know her better.

Who was Nami? And why did he feel that strange breeze just before and while she entered the classroom and saw her for the first time?

He thought these questions would only have an answer if he could establish a proper conversation with Nami, but maybe not all of them. Things were getting clear for him, however, thinking about Darius quickly delivered him that awful feeling of having to work double for the class. He clearly entered a huge problem, because not only would he have to teach Nami whatever they might be working on, he would also have to be Darius’s helping hand. He was never someone who could stand up to the Hand of Noxus, especially when both were in the same group of friends.

First day of school was clearly a pain, and he was just getting started.


	4. Friends or Foes

The current under Nami’s tail maintained itself fresh and flowed properly enough for her to keep up with Xayah. The tour had already ended, and Nami was amazed by all she had learned. Not only did Xayah described every single detail about the rooms themselves, but she also introduced some teachers indirectly to her. Xayah had asked to see Nami’s schedule, which she kindly lend to her guide, and with the information written in the paper, she was able to talk to her about her teachers.

They finalized the tour right in the center of the main hall, just in front of the entrance door and the stairway, which led to all the remaining three floors.

“So,” Xayah finally said. “That’s about it, Fishtail.”

While on the tour, Xayah decided to refer to Nami as Fishtail. Nami did not take it as an offense of any sort. In fact, the way Xayah said it made Nami feel welcome. Her guide behaved politely and open, kindly answering all the questions Nami had about the place, even if they were only a few, since Nami did not want to bother much.

She had seen it all, from the classrooms in the first floor up to the laboratories in the fourth. Once again, she was amazed by the technology that was used in the surface world of the landwalkers. Xayah had also showed her a route for her to follow on Mondays and Thursdays to get to her classes.

“Thank you, Xayah,” Nami said. Surprisingly, Nami had been looking straight forward and directly to Xayah while exploring the building. Even if Nami was of a shy nature, whenever she felt confident enough, she was able to let her true self out. Out of all the qualities Nami possessed, being curious was the dominant one.

She was thankful when Xayah had began talking as soon as they left Room 108, back with Professor Heimerdinger and that boy with the green jacket and white hair. The Lhotlan introduced herself as Xayah, and was exactly the same age as Nami. The more and more Xayah talked to her, the more confident she would become, up until the point in which she remembered what happened when Professor Heimerdinger paired her with the boy with the green jacket. Nami felt incomplete when she did, and she immediately felt an eager feeling of wanting to go back and thank him properly, but the fact that she did not know the boy at all pushed her back. She thought about asking Xayah about him, but she feared she might have asked too much questions.

Even so, if Nami could meet with him again, she’ll definitely thank him and apologize to him for not being able to do so before.

“Well,” Xayah continued. “There’s only one more thing left to do before I leave you to it. I’ve gotta show you where your locker is. You do have your key, right?”

“Oh, uh, yes, I do.”

Nami reached out for her necklace, delicately opened the clam shell and took out the key. There was nothing to it especially, it was only a piece of metal shaped strangely, with “teeth” protruding from its “limb”. Obedient and predicting, she handed it over to Xayah.

The Lhotlan received the article and pulled out a device similar to Headmistress Fiora’s. However, this one was a bit bigger, but it gave out light from itself, just as her principal’s.

She saw how Xayah scanned her eyes over it and tapped on it with her thumb. It was a matter of seconds before she spoke again.

“I see... Follow me, please.”

Nami swam, doing what Xayah asked her to do.

They went up the stairs up until the fourth floor. Climbing the stairs was not an issue for Nami, surprisingly. She could easily levitate with the aid of the water current following her every move.

“I’m so jealous of you,” Xayah said. “You don’t really have to wear yourself out while going up. I myself have to go up and down at least thrice a day. Blame that one on my schedule.”

Xayah chuckled.

Nami was unsure on what to respond. This was the very first time Xayah had told her something other than the school itself. Nevertheless, Nami thrived with herself just to keep up to her pace in the conversation.

“Well,” she commenced. “I do get tired a bit, but not physically. I have to maintain my concentration on this spell, or the water would just spill on the ground and I’d fall over.”

“Ah, a concentration spell. My bad on that one. Magic always has its limits, doesn’t it?”

Nami chuckled as Xayah did.

“Yeah. It’s sort of a ‘love-hate’ relationship.”

This small moment Nami had with Xayah fired away her confidence in a way she never felt before. She was actually having a conversation with someone, a fluent one. This was rare for her, especially during her last years in her tribe.

At the end of the stairway, they both turned left towards the hall containing the music and art classrooms. Students, like in the stairway, were walking towards their own destinations. Many of them were opening big, gray containers that were taller than themselves, and for some reason, Nami immediately speculated that that’s were they were going.

They ended up walking towards the very end of the hall. Nami noticed how the walls were decorated with boards with papers on them. Xayah told her about them before, but she said they weren’t important as for now, at least until Nami could settle in better. Regardless, Xayah said she could still give them a look just to see what they had to say.

“Okay, four hundred eighty. This is it.” Xayah said.

Nami stopped with her. Xayah was welcoming her to her own locker with her hand. The locker was right next to Room 410; the last of the classrooms in the hall. A small number was incrusted on its door, reading “480”.

“This is where you can store all your belongings. It supposedly is the second safest place in school to keep them, the first being your dorm. Of course, as long as you trust your roommate.”

Nami listened carefully to Xayah. Once again, even if she seemed like a rude girl, she was quite nice and kind to her. She also knew about the dorms while Xayah was talking about the school grounds.

“The Academy doesn’t like putting a tag on the key ‘cause shall it get lost... well, your stuff would most probably too.”

Xayah brought up the key and showed Nami how to open the lock on the locker. Nami paid attention to her movements so that she can repeat them in the future. She saw how she took the lock and inserted the key right in and turned it, immediately unlocking the locker. Xayah took the lock off the hinge and opened the door.

As Nami looked inside, she took her time to analyze the space she had available. The locker had three brackets the size of a book on the upper section, and just below the last one, a tube was fixed in with three hangers.

“The lockers should be enough to store your books and such,” Xayah said. “And just below you can hang any clothing you’d like to store in here. I personally keep my Physical Education outfit in mine, but that’s up to you. Most people don’t even use this and like to store skateboards, sports articles and such.”

Nami nodded, affirming she understood what Xayah told her.

“I think that’s about it,” Xayah continued, turning around to face Nami. “Welcome to the Academy of Valoran.”

As Xayah said this, she gave Nami her key back, which she took and put back inside the clam shell on her necklace.

Nami was about to thank Xayah once again, when suddenly, the door from Room 410 opened. Nami stopped her words and observed the new situation. A girl with pinkish-violet hair and fluffy ears was coming out from the room. She was dressed in a fancy white uniform with cyan sleeves and neck accompanied by a bow with a tie, almost the same color as her hair. Her skirt was dark blue with lighter lines on it and had a small poro purse hanging on one side. Most importantly, the girl was gifted with nine tails, colored in a brown and thick fur. Xayah turned around to see her, just like Nami. They both observed how she walked to a board that was on the opposite wall from Nami’s locker and took out a pink marker. On one of the papers that was hanged on the board, the girl wrote her name in big, bold letters.

Ahri.

Ahri turned around and finally noticed the two other girls standing in front of the lockers. She smiled at them.

“Xayah!” she said. “It’s been forever! How have you been?”

Ahri immediately closed the gap between the two, focusing mainly on Xayah. Upon arrival, she changed her gaze to Nami, who was inevitably invaded by another round of nervousness. Nami could notice that Ahri’s eyes were scanning her, commencing on her eyes, then her face, going down to her torso with her jacket and necklace and finally arriving to her tail. Nami felt a little uneasy, and her reaction was simple. She tried to move her tail behind her body, clearly feeling Ahri’s stare. And so, Nami returned to look down at the floor in shame, giving out a sad smile.

“And who are you, darling?” Ahri said.

Nami knew the question was specifically for her. It was obvious; she had already greeted Xayah. Nami looked up to Ahri again, aroused by the question. She wanted to say her name, just to see how could it play out, but she stuttered.

“Her name is Nami,” Xayah said, putting a hand on Nami’s shoulder and pulling her a bit closer to Xayah. She caught Nami off-guard. “She’s my new friend.”

Nami really wanted to say something, but everything was happening too fast for her to process.

“It’s nice to meet you, Nami,” Ahri answered.

There was an awkward silence between the three, however small. She didn’t know why, but Nami started to feel a little tense.

“So,” Ahri continued. “Nami, if you ever become interested in joining any student club, or sports club, you should enlist on any board you see in the halls, like that one back there.

Ahri once again looked at her tail.

“But, I really encourage you to join my beauty club. We’re always open for more girls to join. Think about it, okay?”

Ahri finally smiled to her, showing her white teeth. It looked like the atmosphere grew quite uneasy between them.

“I like your crown,” she finally said, before walking away, pulling out her own device.

Nami followed her with her black eyes. The tails danced with every movement Ahri made while walking down the hall, quickly blending in the wave of students.

“Uh, what was that, Xayah?” Nami asked.

Xayah immediately sighed, shortly walking away from Nami and positioning herself in front of the Marai for them to have a proper conversation.

“That’s Ahri,” Xayah replied. “She and I… well, let’s say things are not congruent between us. I sometimes suspect she’s trying to opaque me from Rakan, my boyfriend. Whenever I’m not with him, there’s been times in which I’ve caught her behaving quite friendly towards him. And I mean, very friendly.”

Nami was listening carefully to what Xayah was telling her.

“And I just noticed she has been writing her name like that on every board that has a list for the cheerleading tryouts. Perhaps she’s trying to draw more attention for herself than she already does. Anyway, I’m not saying you shouldn’t be friends with her, but I do recommend you to be careful around her.”

“Does she have any other friends?” Nami asked. “I mean, by how you’re describing her, I’d say she’s quite popular.”

“Ugh, no. She might like the attention, but she’s quite reserved. She likes to hang out with her main little group.”

Xayah stopped for a second.

“Oh, in fact, the guy you were with back at Room 108 is part of her squad.”

Nami’s eyes widened a little bit.

“He’s a cool guy, quite accessible, unlike the other two. Well, one of them is kind of a freak, in my opinion. He likes to stay in the labs and work on experiments during his free time. And the other one’s a total prick. Unless you’re into bad guys, I’d say be friends with him.”

Indirectly, Nami knew the answer to something that had been in her mind during the last hour.

“If he’s accessible, why would he hang out with them?” Nami asked.

“I don’t really know. They’ve been like that ever since we all came to the Academy to study.”

Xayah instructed Nami to leave the place. They were both now walking and swimming, in Nami’s case, right next to each other. Nami was careful not to soak Xayah’s feet. Since she was a Lhotlan, there was no need for her to own footwear.

“Pardon my intrusion, but, what were you guys talking with Heimy about back then?”

“Oh,” Nami answered. “Professor Heimerdinger assigned us to be partners for the semester. I felt quite ashamed about that, since I was not the one to ask, and I feel like I was sort of forced against his will to become partners. Even so, he was really kind to have accepted my company. I was struggling with myself during Heimerdinger’s class. I felt like I was lost in the Void with everything he was talking about.”

“I see,” Xayah replied. “I must say again, you’re very lucky. He’s one of the smartest students in the Academy, and as far as I know, he has won first place in most science fairs. I think the lowest he has ever ranked has been third, and it was because his device malfunctioned at the last moment.”

The more Nami knew about the boy with the white hair, the more she was amazed with his capabilities.

“Do you know his name?” she asked.

With this question, and with how naturally it was asked, Xayah smiled slightly and looked to Nami.

“Don’t you think you should ask that question to him personally?”

Nami remained silent, looking back at Xayah, and then straight forward.

“You’re right,” she finally said with a smile.

“Come on, I’m starving. I believe we still have some time to eat something. Oh, and I would love to talk to you about my Rakan.”

Nami and Xayah began descending the stairs, heading towards the cafeteria, which was located at the left hall of the second floor.

Nami’s first day of school wasn’t turning out bad at all. Sure, she had an awkward encounter with one of the most popular girls in school, but regardless, what Xayah said about her while talking to Ahri made her feel happy. She had made her first friend, and she was grateful it was a kind girl like Xayah. She thought Xayah was only showing some colors of her whole spectrum to her, regarding on how she acted with Ahri. Nevertheless, they were both Vastaya, both very sensitive to magic. Maybe that’s why they were getting along so well, she thought.

And now it was up to Nami to face off her small fear. She had to meet that boy with the green jacket, and properly thank him, and most importantly, remember his name. It was true Professor Heimerdinger introduced them to each other, but the nervousness played it harsh on Nami.

She would like it very much to see where the current would take her.


End file.
